Happy Halloween!

     Halloween is one of those holidays that not everyone participates in. I remember growing up a friend from elementary school and her family didn't celebrate Halloween because it was a day of demons and the dead walking. Another friend didn't celebrate Halloween because her family had a big celebration around the Day of the Dead.
     My family never did big parties or anything, but the three of us kids would go out and Trick-or-Treat up and down the street; then we'd trek over to my aunt and uncle's house and walk around their neighborhood. We always had fun, and it was a great time to dress up and be something that, normally, we weren't.
     I enjoyed the costume part of the holiday. Some favorites were Aurora/Sleeping Beauty, Porthos of the Musketeers, Jasmine, and Anna Valerious from Van Helsing. I was also a tavern wench, Laura Croft, Tinkerbell, and a princess (several different times) on top of the usual little kid ghost costumes. I think the ones that are my favorites are the ones my mom made the costumes for: she sewed together both Aurora's blue dress and Porthos' musketeer poncho, and we gathered together random pieces of costumes for the rest of them.
     The costume I was looking forward to the most, at the time, was a princess complete with the Miss United States Tiara. I never got to wear that costume because I got in trouble and grounded, at first. Then, to make everything worse, I didn't even get to dress up and hand out candy because I got strep throat the day before Halloween. (It was not a good year for me.) It's not as big of a deal anymore because I was a much more legitimate princess my sophomore year of college, then a mardi gras masquerade dancer last year.
     For the last couple years I've been at school for Halloween, so I missed getting dressed up and handing out candy to the kids of the neighborhood. Instead I was helping one of our Residence Halls with their Haunted House. It's so much fun! There are scenes where different terrifying moments from horror movies happen: a operation scene, the creepy child playing in blood scene, a zombie dog & owner scene, and a witch, to name a few.
      This year we're going with the much more creepy and realistic side of things: when your tour guide just vanishes, when a family scene goes insane, a super freaky classroom, and a zombie wedding. I get to be the creepy tour guide (I'm not sure how creepy I'll really get) and I'm looking forward to it.

Some tips for a great Halloween:

• Only eat the candy that's been professionally sealed: while there are myths and rumors about people putting razor blades and other dangerous things in candy, 99% of the population is just trying to help the kids have a great Halloween. If you're suspicious, don't eat it. 
• Only go to the houses with a porch light on. It's the universal symbol for "We have candy!! Come and get it!" Unless you know the people, there's really no point in going to a house with the lights out, even if the windows are lit up, it makes people angry.
• On the other side: If you don't have candy, don't turn on your porch light. When the trick-or-treaters come, don't hide in another room: your lights are on, you're home. Don't feel obligated to give them something, just turn off the light. 
• Beware allergies! I don't know about the rest of the world, but I've encountered more kids with allergies in the past few years than when I was a kid. If you're not sure, a simple Hershey's candy bar without almonds is usually a good choice. 
• Most of all: HAVE FUN! It's not about getting the most candy or going to every house on the block, it's about getting to be something you're not, scaring your friends and siblings, and enjoying yourself. If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong.

Have a happy, and spooky, Halloween!

Stephie

Sasquatch

     I live in the Pacific Northwest, I have my entire life, and I still don't understand how people can't believe that there is something out there that we don't understand. I'm watching whatever this is on the History channel about Bigfoot. They keep talking about skunk apes and mutant gorillas, or even the missing link between humans and the apes. They've gotten a group of "experts" together to look into whatever the sightings might really be.
     They wonder what Bigfoot eats, where he lives, why he is secretive or hides, where did he come from, and what is he doing? They look at what Bigfoot had to evolve toward in order to survive. They mapped out where sightings have been reported, they're focused along the western coast in North America, and the experts compared that to what they believe to be the best climate for a large omnivorous ape. Supposedly they match almost perfectly. The sightings describe a tall, broad, hairy-looking man that walks on two legs, can run like a man or an ape, makes calls into the night and hunts in the forest.
     The scientists compare the Bigfoot sightings they're researching to the Loch Ness monster and to the Yeti as mythic creatures. When they compare the Bigfoot to creatures we know to exist they usually compare them to humans or to chimpanzees or gorillas. They talk about the Yeti living in the snow fields and being compared to the Mande Burung and the Yeren in Asia, and to the Oreng Pendek in Indonesia. These are creatures that have been seen for thousands of years and match a human ancestor called Heidelbergensis.
     The name Sasquatch is a native american term and the tales match up with each of these different ancient human examples. There is another theory that the Bigfoot creature is a modern human that has become the "Wild Man" and evolved to live in the wild. It wouldn't necessarily be a future example of humans, but a parallel species. They cite the similarity to humans in diet, shape, possible rituals, and purported sexual desire (apparently Sasquatch has an attraction to human women and the tribes of the Pacific Northwest take care to protect their female guests) to draw lines between human ancestors, giant apes, modern human cousins, or even modern homo sapiens.
     I'm just interested in what's out there. Is it a spiritual location for the native tribes where the shamans become wild people and transform into a completely different kind of person? Is there a cousin or ancestor to modern humans wandering the forests? Or is it just a trick of the eye? I think there is something out there; I know of at least one person who has seen something like the typical image of Sasquatch, and I'm sure there are more.
     There is some magic in the mystery of Sasquatch and the other Bigfoot, as well as in the Loch Ness creature. I don't understand why we, as a human collective, insist that there isn't something in the forests and waters of the world. One day we might know what's out there, but I hope that we still have some of the mystery that pervades our planet when we do discover what it is.



Just a thought...
Stephie

Managing Group Politics

     So I deal with one of our Residence Hall governments and we've been dealing with the politics of hiring a DJ and planning programs. We just finished an event and were going over what went well and what didn't go so well.
     The biggest thing we've discovered as a problem is discussions happening outside of the official channels. One student had asked to do music for a function and another student, one with the authority to say yes or no, didn't object. The hopeful DJ took that to mean he had the job, but the miscommunication contributed to an unsatisfactory result.
     It turns out the DJ was willing to use any music we wanted, but something stopped him from using his own music, and what we provided. So, he had a buddy bring in music. The friend's music was all of one type--dubstep--and it began to influence the event. In the end, the dance ended early because people weren't enjoying themselves or the music. An event that has been one of the biggest events of the year became a mediocre replica of what it had been, only because the lines of communication became blurry.
     Is this a normal thing that plagues all sorts of organizations? Or is it because we are inexperienced in this sort of thing? The group I'm working with is an amazing collection of passionate people working to make both their own college experience and their classmates' the best it can be.

Just a thought....
Stephie

Cussing

     My dad used to tell us kids a story about his grandmother: one of the kids would cuss in front of her and she would say "There's no such thing as a bad word, only bad intentions." I always liked the story (even if Mom and Dad didn't agree in being so laissez faire about the whole cussing thing) and remembered it when I came across an article on how cussing isn't the biggest problem in the world; God has bigger things to clean up in our lives.
     The basic premise is that Christians shouldn't cuss. But to get around cussing they create a language that is "acceptable" yet still stands in for the same thing. Then the article delves further into the concept of sinful and non-sinful language for example, a close friend gets an amazing gift for Christmas and you say "I hate you", it's joking and expressing your jealousy in a way the friend understands. But in a different situation, someone hurt your feelings and you want to return the favor so you say "I hate you" it becomes sinful--because of your intentions.
     The article goes on to talk about intentions as opposed to actions and how people who flaunt their language as a way of sounding cool aren't as cool as they think, but the writer notes there is something about using foul language that is unacceptable in and of itself. I just got to thinking about what we consider cussing and what is acceptable language, but I always come back to my great-grandma's philosophy: there are no bad words. Only bad intentions dirtying the language with which they are expressed.

Just a thought....
Stephie

Brownies!

     My roommate and I love to bake! We'll make anything from cookies to cakes, from pies to brownies, and anything we can think of. Last night she made brownies. They were good, but not quite the amazing either of us was expecting: they came out dry. Now, that's not going to stop either of us from eating them in one sitting if we don't stop ourselves. But still, is there a reason a perfectly good recipe turned sour?

     The first thing I thought of was the oven. It's new to us both, having just moved into the dorm, and we haven't exactly worked all the kinks out. Then there was the fact that rather than using the (super expensive) baker's chocolate we used powdered cocoa and vegetable oil (as suggested on the box of cocoa). A final, but unlikely, reason for the dryness was overcooking. We both came down on the side of using the powdered cocoa as the cause.
     How are we going to fix this? Easy answer: we don't know. We talked about taking the brownies out early, adding more oil or other liquid, or even using shortening rather than oil, but none of them are known fixes. This isn't going to stop us, but it was an unexpected first bite into a fresh brownie when it crumbled down our faces.

Just a thought....
Stephie

Vanished!

     When I started watching Warehouse 13, I fell in love with the acting style of Joanne Kelly. Then, when my friend and I were surfing Hulu we came across another show starring, well almost starring her. It's called Vanished.
     In the show Joanne Kelly is the wife of Georgia's Senator Collins. She is kidnapped from a gala celebrating her charity work and the search begins. The series chronicles the search for her and the secrets that come with the investigation.
     So far I like the show, but there are some characters that drive me nuts. The reporter for one, all she cares about is her story no matter who it might destroy. She strikes me as a "Regina King" from Mean Girls.  She uses the people around her to get what she wants, and that isn't necessarily Sara Collins found.
     The daughter is one of those whining brats who thinks her parents hate her. Yes, there are things her father and stepmother, and mother, aren't telling her, or letting her do, but there are more productive ways to go about getting attention or her way.
     The brother isn't high on my list of favorites, but neither is he the clueless dupe everyone else seems to think--he held on to his relationship with his mother when no one else would give her the time of day, he kept his sister's secrets, and it doesn't seem like anyone has noticed anything he has done - pretty well flying under the radar.
     I don't really have an opinion on the senator one way or another. He loves his wife and yet they kidnap her, at first we don't know what for. But as the story continues he appears to hinder the FBI investigation more than help it. I'd hope if I were married and missing my husband would do more to help.
     My favorite character is probably the FBI agent, Kelton. He cares about his mission and wants to get Sara Collins back to her family. When the audience meets his family you can understand how he feels so deeply for the Collins family.
     It's an interesting show and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of it.

Just a thought....
Stephie

Novelistic Settings

     I was getting ready to write about a book I read years ago, The Secret at Shadow Ranch. It's a Nancy Drew Mystery, short and sweet, but I just couldn't remember the plot so I decided to search the internet for it. I came up with a Wikipedia site for Shadow Ranch--it's a real place!

     I was shocked to discover this so I continued reading, only to find that the ranch in real life is in California, while in the book it's in Arizona. All interest lost. But then I got to thinking: how many places in books have existed in real life (other than what we expect to be on the map) and how to people come up with them? 

      Then I heard about a book that's become extremely popular lately: the Fifty Shades books. My friend was complaining about how they're set in Seattle yet nothing about the setting is realistic, other than the rain. Another friend chimed in that it was because it's Twilight fan fiction and the author lives in Australia. While that's all good and fine, there are so many other, good books that have a better description of Seattle than the Twilight series and so many other ways to discover more about the area than to use another fictional book. 

     I know Jayne Ann Krentz lives in the Seattle area. Her books are usually set in the Pacific Northwest and have a pretty realistic setting. While you can't go to a particular part of town and say "Oh, So-and-so lived in that building on the fourth floor" you see parts of the city that the characters walk through and live in. 

     Why is it that some authors write much more realistic settings into their books than others? The mythical realms are usually the most detailed: Narnia, Middle Earth, Alagaesia, and so many other worlds have more dimension than places that really exist. But why? Is it so much more difficult to paint a picture in your reader's mind of a place they could actually go and visit than one only you can see?

Just a thought....
Stephie

The Wild Man

     I took a Fairy Tales & Fantasy class last year where we looked at the psychology behind some of the common fairy tales. It was a great class and I finally got to look into the history and motivations commonly thought to be behind the stories I've been hearing and reading for years. The story we looked at in the most depth was the story of the Wild Man. Now, the Wild Man is a wise man who lives in the forest. In the story he is known as Iron John, a man who lived in a pond and mentored a young prince.

A basic retelling of the story:
     Something strange is happening in the forest near the king's castle: people go in, but they don't come out, so people stop going into the forest. A mysterious hunter shows up and  asks the king if there's anything dangerous around. The king points out the forest and the hunter goes in with only his dog. When they pass a pond, something reaches out and grabs the dog. The man returns to the castle, gathers some people, and returns to empty the pond. They find Iron John, tie him up, and lock him in the castle dungeons.

     One day the prince is playing with his favorite golden ball when it rolls away and into the Wild Man's dungeon. Iron John says he'll give it back if the prince releases him, the boy runs away and returns twice more before saying he couldn't release Iron John even if he wanted to. To which the Wild Man replies, "the key is under your mother's pillow."
     The prince steals the key when his parents are away, and tries to release the Wild Man, but hurts his finger in the process. When the man is free he cries, "don't leave or they will beat me" so Iron John takes the prince up on his shoulders and they escape together. The King and Queen notice the escaped prisoner and missing prince and scour the lands for them without success.
     Iron John feels compassion for the prince, who can never return home, and sets him to the task of watching a spring, not letting anything fall into it. The boy sees golden fish and creatures moving in the pure water, and unknowingly slides his hurt finger into the pond. It turns to gold! When the Wild Man returns the prince is given two more chances to right the wrong, but he allows a single hair from his head, then the entire shock of his hair to fall into the pond. The Wild Man sends the boy out into the world to experience poverty because of his failure.
     The boy went in search of work, having no skill by which to earn his living he wandered until he found a large city. He went into the palace and asked for work, and while they didn't know what he could do, they liked him and set him to fetch and carry for the kitchen. One day the cook sent him to deliver food to the king's table, but the boy didn't want the king to see his golden hair and kept his hat on. The king found this disrespectful and ordered him fired.
     Instead of firing him, the cook took pity and traded the prince for the gardener's boy. One summer day he took off his hat and his golden hair sparkled and glowed in the sunlight. The princess saw and demanded the boy bring her flowers, when he arrived she tricked him into taking his cap off. He tried to escape, but she caught him and gave him a bag of coins. The prince handed them over to the gardener for his children. On the next day the princess tried again to see the boy's hair, but he held his cap on and she gave him another bag of coins that he handed over to the gardener. On the third day, he held onto his hat and refused the bag of coins.
     Soon a war broke out in the country. The boy decided he was man enough to go to war and declared his intention. The soldiers mocked him and left him a lame horse. The boy called at the edge of the forest three times "Iron John" and the Wild Man came. "What do you want?" the boy replied a strong war-horse. So Iron John provided a magnificent war horse and a band of iron-clad warriors. They drove back the enemy force and won the battle for the King, but rather than riding directly back to the castle, the prince returned the gifts to Iron John and rode the three-legged horse home.
     The king decided to host a festival to bring out the mysterious knight ending with the princess throwing out the golden apple. The prince went back to the forest and asked Iron John to catch the apple, the Wild Man gave him a chestnut horse and red armor to protect him. He rode onto the field and when the princess threw out the golden apple, he caught it, immediately riding away. On the second day the prince wore white armor and rode a white horse, caught the apple and rode away. The king became angry and told his men that if the mysterious knight didn't come and report his name, "chase him and give him a blow with your sword." On the third day Iron John gave the prince black armor and a black horse. He caught the apple and fled, but the King's Men followed and knocked his helmet off. They returned and told the king all.

     The princess went the next day to the gardener and asked after the boy. He replied, "he went to join the festival and got home late last night. But he showed my children three golden apples he won." She returned to her father and the king called the boy. The princess took his cap and his golden hair astounded the court, the king asked if he was the knight. The boy replied yes, revealed he was the mysterious knight from the war and that his father was a notable king, and when the king offered a reward, asked for the princess in marriage.
     When the two were celebrating their marriage feast, a baronial king burst through the doors with his attendants, hugged the young man and said, "I am Iron John, enchanted into the Wild Man, you have freed me and all my treasures are now yours!"
And they all lived happily ever after...

     There are so many things we talked about in this story, like the golden ball. The class discussion came up with the golden ball as innocence. Around eight years old, something happens that the world is no longer a happy-hunky-dory place. For some people this is sooner and for some this is later, but for the most part, something happens at eight. The time in the king's kitchen is reminiscent of the work that everyone has to do to figure out their own identity and who they want to be in the future. It continues over into the work with the gardener, only that is more of the busy work that you do until you've managed to put into action who you want to be; like a first job before you start your career. Finding the princess is, in this case, finding the inner female or the anima. I was fascinated that Iron John's spell was broken because he mentored another young man in the ways of the Wild Man, and in doing so helped him to achieve his fortune and destiny. It speaks to the idea that you're not completely done with your life's work until you've helped and led another into the beginning of their life's work. A resounding advocation of mentoring programs. I enjoyed the story, while it isn't my favorite myth or fairy tale it does show how these stories are reflections of the society and time they came out of.

Just a thought....
Stephie